What are the Twelve Steps?
The 12 steps are those on the "journey" of transition. It
isn't anything scary - just a checklist that experience suggests
each community needs to go through on their way to a more
resilient future. Here they are:
Step 1: Organise
It's full official title is actually "set up
a steering group and design its demise from the outset" but we
just shorten it to "organise" as it rolls of the tongue easier.
It is also easier for explaining what it means. Think of it as
"organise, evolve & devolve". This requires a core team to drive
the project on through its early phases. As the project evolves
sub-groups emerge to work on programs in the community. The
sub-groups can slowly assume control and the central group
changes to compose of one member from each sub-group. This seems
a little confusing but recognises the objective of a
decentralised structure. In High
Wycombe we are in the early phases so we have the Steering Group
(or "Management Committee" to reflect a convention used for an
'unincorporated not-for-profit association'). This works off a
Constitution. We have a Chairperson, Vice-chair, Treasurer and
Secretary. In addition there are a further six posts making a
total committee of ten. Everyone else is a Member although you
don't have to be a member to participate and help out. The only
difference for a Member is that they can vote at our meetings
(which are open to the public). Organisations can participate
too. Their membership is classified as an "Affiliation" and it
grants them one vote per Affiliate. An Affiliate should assign
one local representative for liaison purposes. Affiliation
depends upon the written objectives of the Affiliate not
conflicting with the Aims of Transition Town High Wycombe. You
can read about of this in our Constitution.
Step 2: Raise Awareness
As of October 2008
this is the stage we are in. This means we are running movie
shows at the High Wycombe Environment Centre on Holywell Mead.
These are intended to drive up public awareness of Peak Oil,
Climate Change and the effects upon Food, Energy and Money. We
promote our solutions of reduced Carbon Footprint and increased
Community Resilience. After each movie we field a lively Q&A
session. We plan to
provide presentations to other groups, give talks, get ourselves
in the newspapers and raise our profile amongst the general
public. This is increasing our "brand awareness". High Wycombe
is full of such competing 'brands' and designs on people's time.
What makes Transition Town High Wycombe any different from all
the others? That difference will be through professional
standards of education, information and by offering a positive
alternative. Our core "message" will be clear and promoted
consistently through our Film Show Posters, web site, that logo
and a dozen other forms of communication. This is our means to
credibility - to inspire confidence in, & respect for, our
message. We need the people of High Wycombe to listen, hear,
understand and then open a dialogue with us.
Step 3: Lay Foundations
Our "foundations"
are our relationships with other groups. Our network. This is a
'coalition', 'partnership' or 'alliance' with other Civil
Society groups in High Wycombe. This could include everything
from local Businesses to local Charities, from Schools to
Churches. Anyone who is working in the Community for local
empowerment, local food, local energy, local EVERYTHING! The
whole will be greater than the sum. We do not seek to control or
take credit for the work of others. Instead we wish to join the
dots for people so that they see that a hundred individual
actions build the Community Resilience for everyone. There is
strength in numbers. We can all be doing completely different
things but we will all be joined in one common objective.
Sustainability without oil. There is no one solution, we'll need
to stitch together many. Together we'll look at the future in a
new way. It is early
days for Transition Town High Wycombe's "foundations". However
we have already made some contacts with half a dozen local
groups. It is a good start and we will keep rolling on building
this foundation slowly and surely. The group is not overly-keen
yet to push the networking into they have greater confidence in
the 'brand' that is evolving.
Step 4: A Great Unleashing
Once the partnership
has reached appropriate size we will 'come of age'. At this
point the Transition Initiative will explode upon the public
consciousness. This is when we move into the Community at large.
This could take a year or more (from October 2008). The
unleashing is normally expected to be a large conference to be
held in the Town to introduce a wide audience to the Community
Solutions to Peak Oil and Climate Change. It will focus on
overcoming the barriers to personal change. In addition to talks
other cultural events can be held that reflect the unique nature
of High Wycombe. For example it could coincide with a Local Food
Festival and Carnival.
Step 5: Form Sub-Groups
The sub-groups we
will need will focus on many separate (but connected) facets of
modern life. These will be money, food, energy, waste,
education, youth, transport, water, local government, etc. The
conclusions of each group will be unique to High Wycombe. The
solutions we need are bright ideas leading to sustainable
communities that thrive. The groups will figure out how to
reduce carbon footprints and build community resilience. The
results will be collected together to form the inputs to the
High Wycombe Energy Descent Plan.
Early work was already conducted in August 2008 when the
Transition Town High Wycombe group had a chance to respond to
Wycombe District Council's "Towards Sustainable Economic
Prosperity" discussion Document. In addition several members of
the existing core team are already working on local Food issues.
We look forward to putting this work onto a formal footing when
we have more help.
Step 6: Hold Workshops
The Transition
Network uses the phrase "Open Space Technology" which seems a
fancy way of saying 'brain-storming'. It is lots of people
coming together to seek solutions within their sub-groups or
larger groups. People will gather to discuss a topic but there
is no obvious agenda, timetable, minute takers, coordinators or
other formal structure. The idea is to restrict any of the
normal inhibitors to the free flow of ideas normally found in
more formal meetings.
Step 7: Visible
Manifestations
Manifestations are
high-profile, visible, and very practical, outputs that the
Community can see as a demonstration of Transition. It helps to
overcome the impression that Transition is just a talking-shop.
Step 8: Reskilling
Grandly referred to
as the 'great reskilling'. If the Community is to build local
resilience in the face of climate change and peak oil then the
distribution of simple skills will have to change. We have spent
100 years unlearning what we need to know to survive. Hence we
need to relearn some old skills with a good mix of modern
skills. For some this may seem like a chance to wallow in
nostalgia. It is not meant to be. The community can benefit for
computer, bicycle and solar panel repair skills just as well as
knitting, baking and crafts. Anything that facilitates the wider
spread of basic skills for the generation of Local Food and
Local Energy will help the Community survive and prosper. This
can be the foundation for a new generation of 'cottage
industries' using simple technology in a low-energy future. It
doesn't mean the end of all automation or machinery. Expect
there to be a great future for knitting and sewing machines.
Examples of the sort of skills we could consider for High
Wycombe may include loft insulation, installing solar panels,
building wind turbines, horticulture, permaculture, building
with local materials, loft insulation, cooking, pickling, food
preservation, wild food, home energy efficiency, and so on and
so on. The list is endless. We need them all. Expect a future
where we may have many of the things we have today. They will
have come from a small factory not far away, they will last a
lot, lot longer and if they fail we may be able to fix them
ourselves. It will turn consumerism on its head. Goodbye
disposable society. Lets get skilled.
Already a small
group within Transition Town High Wycombe is looking to setup an
allotment and run reskilling courses at the Environment Centre.
Step 9: Build a bridge to Local Government
We will need
positive engagement with our Local Authorities in High Wycombe
if Transition is to work. Imagine how hard it will be if the
Local Authority works in the opposite direction. They need us
and we need them.
Step 10: Honour the
Elders
Similar to Step 8 in
that it involves recapturing some of the culture and ideas that
kept our grandparents going in their low-energy past. We have
things to learn even if it is just how to set the right
expectations for our own children. Most Pensioners today will
recall days when they, as children, never had a Television, the
internet, computer games, mobile phones, DVD players and all the
other paraphernalia of our modern lives. These things are just
"stuff" - they are not "us". What was it like before we had
them? Were they in perpetual misery? Of course not. Let's
recapture that magic.
Step 11: Let it go....
One of the most
important steps. How High Wycombe will Transition is up to the
people of High Wycombe. The "Transition Network" is there for
guidance only. It does not prescribe a solution. Only a means to
an end. Our Transition does not need to be rigidly steered down
any particular route. It will find its own way once the 'ball is
rolling'. Today it might be nice to think of High Wycombe as
becoming the Renewable Energy Powerhouse of the South of
England. But this might not happen. Another path could be
apparent. It is our choice. There are no wrong answers - apart
from 'business usual' of course!
Step 12: The Energy Descent Plan
High Wycombe's
Energy Descent Plan is our roadmap to a future of radically less
energy, lower carbon footprints and more community
self-reliance. It is produced from the conclusions of many
different sub-groups and organisations. Our hope is that this is
the plan that our local government will finally adopt - because
it has to. This is OUR "Plan B" and failure is not an option. |
